The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-08-26


quest. Mere outside prosperity, mere
worldly power, is no evidence that the
church is acceptable to God. Better a
barn with Christ in the manger than a
cathedral with magnificent harmo aies
rolling through the long-drawn aisle, and
an angel from Heaven in the pulpit, if
there be no Christ in the chancel and no
Christ in the robes. Bigotry is often the
child Of ignorance.
You seldom find a man with large in
tellect who is a bigot. 1t is the man who
thinks he knows great deal, but does not.
That man is almost always a bigot. The
whole tendency of education and civiliza-
tion is to bring man out of that kind of
state of mind and heart. There was in the
far East great obelisk, and one side of
the obelisk was white, another side of the
obelisk was green, another side of the
Obelisk was blue, and travellers went and
looked at that obelisk, but they did not
walk around it. One man looked at one
side, another at another side, and they
came home, each one looking at only one
side; and they happened to meet, the
story says; and they got into rank
quarrel about the color of that obelisk.
One man said it was white, another man
said il was green, another man said it was
blue, and when they were in the very heat
Of the controversy a more intelligent
traveller came, and said: "Gentlemen,
have seen that obelisk and you are all
right, and you are all wrong. Why
didn't you walk all around the. obeIisk %
Look out for the man who sees only one
side of a religious truth. Look out for the
man who never walks around about these
great theories of God and eternity and the
dead. He will be bigot inevitably-the
man who only sees one side. There is no
man more to be pitied than he who has in
his head just one idea-no more, no less.
More light, less sectarianism. There is
nothing that will so soon kill bigotry as
sunshine-God's sunshine.
So have I set before you what con-
slider to be the causes Of bigotry. l have
set before you the origin of. this great evil.
What are some of the baneful effects? First
of all, it cripples investigation. You are
wrong and 1 am right, and that ends it.
No taste for exploration, no spirit of inves-
tigatiOn. From the glorious realm of Gods
truth, over which an archangel might fly
from eternity to eternity and not reach
the limit, the man shuts himself out and
dies, blind mole under a corn-shock. 1t
stops all investigation.
While each denomination of the
Christians is to present all the truths of
the Bible, it seems to me that God has
given to each denomination an especial
some one doctrine; and so the CalYinistic
churches must present the sovereignty of
Goo, and the Arminian churches must pre-
sent mans free agency, and the Episcopal
churches must present the Importance of
order and solemn ceremony, and the
Baptist churches must present the neces-
sity of ordinances, and the Congregation
al Church must present the responsibility
of the individual member, and the
Methodist Church must show what holy
enthusiasm, hearty congregational sing
ing can accomplish. While each denomi-
nation of Christians must set forth all the
doctrines of the Bible, I feel it is especially
incumbent upon each denomination to put
particular emphasis on some one doctrine.
Another great damage done by the Sec
tarianism and bigotry of the church is that
it disgusts people with the Christian re-
| ligion. Now, my friends, the Church OF
God was never intended for a war barrack
People are afraid of riot. You go down
the street, and you see an excitement
and missiles flying through the air, and
hear the shock of firearms. Do you, the
peaceful and industrious citizen, go through
/ that street? ooh, no! :" you will say; ''Il
| go around the block" Now, men come anC
| look upon this narrow path to Heaven, and
! sometimes see the ecclesiastical brickbatS
flying every whittier, and they say
"Well, guess I'Il take the broad road; il
| it is so rough, and there is so much sharp
| shooting on the narrow road, guess III
! try the broad road"
| Francis I. so hated the Lutherans that
he said if he thought there was one droI
of Lutheran blood in his veins he would
puncture them and let that drop out.
Just as long as there is so much hostility
| between denomination and denomination
| or between one professed Christian and an
/ other, just so long men will be Disguised
with the Christian religion, and say: "I
that is religion I want none of it."
Again, bigOtry and sectarianism dc
| great damage in the fact that they hinder
/ the triumph of the Gospel. Oh, how much
| wasted ammunition, how many men Of
! splendid intellect have given their whole
! life to controversial disputes, when, il
they had given their life to some thing
| practical they might have been vastly use
| full. Suppose this morning, while I speak
there were a common enemy coming VI
the bay through the Narrows, and
all the forts around New Yorl
! began to fire into each other, you would cry
out: ''National suicidel Why don't thos,
forts blaze away in one direction, and tina
against the common enemy?" And yet
sometimes see in the Church of the Lore
Jesus Christ a strange thing going on
church against church, minister agains
minister, denomination against denomina
ton, firing away into their own fort, o.
the fort which ought to be on the SAM
side, instead of concentrating their energy
| and giving one mighty and everlasting
volley against the navies of darkness
riding up through the bay.
go out sometimes in the summer, and
| find two beehives, and these two beehive
| are in a quarrel 1 come near enough, no
I'll
| hear the controversy, and one beehiv,
says: t'That field of clover is tn
| sweetest" and another beehive says
"This field of clover is the sweetest
/ come in between them and l say
| "Stop this quarrel if you like thi
field Of clover best, go there; if you like
that field of clover best, go there! but le
me tell you that that hive which
/ gets the most honey is the best hive" S.
1 come out between the churches of thu
| Lord Jesus Christ. One denomination o
! Christians says: 'That field of Christian
doctrine is best;" and another says
"This field Of Christian doctrine is best
1 Well, 1 say: $50 where you get the mos
| honey" That is the best church which
gets the most honey of Christian grace fol
the heart, and the most honey of Christian
usefulness for the life.
Besides that, if you want to build up any
/ denomination you will never build it up by
trying to pull some other down. IntOler
ance never put anything down. How
/ much has intolerance accomplished, TO
| instance, against the Methodist Church
| For long years her ministry were for
hidden the pulpits Of Great Britain
/ Why was it that so many of then
/ preached in the fields? Simply becaust
they could not get in the churches. AnC
the name of the Church was given in de
rision and as a sarcasm. The critics o
the Church said: 'They have no order
they have no method in their Worship
/ and the critics, therefore, in irony called